By Zephyria 
I froze completely, watching the scene unfolding on TV.
The reporter on screen, wearing safety gear, delivered the news with a terrified expression.
-As you can see, the area affected by the Dungeon Break is suffering extreme damage. Guilds across the country and local branches of the Management Bureau are working together to respond, but they are struggling to keep up with the continuous Dungeon Breaks.
“…What is that?”
It overlapped.
The fact that a tragedy, not so different from the front lines where I died in the past, had struck.
Buildings reduced to ruins as if an earthquake had hit. Children wailing over the loss of their families. People injured or killed by monsters pouring out of the Dungeons.
Hell was unfolding under a red sky covered in flames and acrid smoke.
-Evacuees are rushing to shelters, but the long period of peace has hampered the evacuation efforts. According to a Hunter struggling on the scene, this incident appears to be caused by the rampage of previously fully conquered and managed Dungeons, not unidentified Dungeons… Kyaaaa!
Just then, a giant bird-shaped monster appeared in front of the reporter, and the screen flickered and went black.
-Reporter Lee? Reporter Lee?
The voice of the panicked anchor echoed from the newsroom.
Soon, the screen switched to commercials, claiming it was a broadcasting accident, but no one who saw that would fail to realize the severity of the situation.
The Secrety members who watched the news bulletin with me were also shaken.
“W-What’s going on?”
“What’s happening?”
“Why are Dungeon Breaks suddenly erupting everywhere?”
“Didn’t that reporter just die?”
“…They’ll die if no one saves them.”
The thing that snatched the reporter with its claws was a winged flying monster. If a Hunter with flying abilities or the Air Force didn’t come, that reporter would surely lose their life as monster fodder.
I had seen it countless times in my past life, so I knew all too well what grim end awaited if they weren’t rescued.
Even when I changed the TV channel, everything was filled with content about Dungeon Breaks.
‘It’s dangerous.’
That meant this place wasn’t safe either.
Ra Ho-yeon, seeing the members filled with anxiety, jumped up and said.
“First, we should evacuate too… Ugh!”
Ra Ho-yeon’s words were cut short.
Rumble.
A roar like lightning striking nearby echoed.
We instinctively ducked and went under desks or tables.
Seo Yun-chae asked, terrified.
“I-Is it an earthquake?”
I scolded Seo Yun-chae.
“Hey, is that an earthquake? You saw the news on TV earlier.”
“…Then that sound is from a Dungeon Break?”
“There’s a high probability that’s what it is. No, it’s almost certain.”
Judging by the desperate screams of people and the disgusting cries of monsters that I could hear after the thunderous sound.
‘What level is the Dungeon that broke this time?’
Even when I looked at my phone, the alerts weren’t coming through easily.
“Why… Why aren’t the disaster warning alerts going off?”
Shin Tae-beom was puzzled, but I roughly guessed the reason.
“It could be that Dungeon Breaks are happening so frequently that there aren’t enough people to gather and transmit the information for the alerts to go out.”
“What? Is that possible?”
“It was a common occurrence 20 years ago. Back then, almost all infrastructure was paralyzed or destroyed, so we couldn’t even properly inform citizens of dangerous situations.”
But it was strange.
‘In this era where the chaos has been resolved and peace has been achieved, why are large-scale Dungeon Breaks suddenly erupting all over the country?’
Suddenly, the park Dungeon incident where Jin Eu-tteum went missing came to mind.
‘Could it be….’
I wanted to deny it, but.
My gut whispered that the flow of that incident and this one was similar.
Dungeons that seemed to have entered a dormant period were suddenly breaking out like crazy.
‘And even the Dungeons that had already been conquered are causing this chaos?’
Hunters weren’t stupid.
The fact that they couldn’t easily suppress the Dungeons they had conquered meant… the difficulty had been raised compared to when they were conquered.
‘If not, there’s no way the situation would have deteriorated this much even with the Management Bureau and private guild Hunters all involved.’
The Dungeons were so different from the information they had when they conquered them that they couldn’t respond quickly.
‘If the monsters coming out of the Dungeons with increased difficulty were the same types they had encountered before, they could be suppressed quickly, but….’
Judging by the way things were going, it didn’t seem that easy.
Thinking back to the park incident, it seemed that almost no one knew about the monsters from a long time ago, about 20 years ago.
‘Well, almost all the Ability Users who fought the monsters to the death back then would be dead.’
The only ones who survived would be the children of families with strong power who deceived the government or traded with them and were assigned to lower-level Dungeons.
It would be the same now.
I could clearly picture the powerless civilians panicking.
I bit my lip and crawled out from under the table.
“…Hey. Everyone, we need to go outside.”
Seo Yun-chae flared up at my words.
“What? Are you crazy? How dangerous do you think the situation is right now? And you want to go out?”
“We’re Ability Users.”
“……”
Seo Yun-chae’s mouth shut.
“B-But we saw it earlier. It looked like a Dungeon of a much more dangerous level than the ones we conquered broke out-.”
“Are you saying we should just do nothing?”
“……”
“The reason you can live such comfortable lives as ordinary people, even though you’re Ability Users, is because of the sacrifices of other Ability Users in the past.”
Have I finally gone crazy?
I couldn’t even understand what I was saying myself.
Potato also tried to stop me.
[ Hey, what are you doing right now? ]
‘I don’t know.’
[ If we go outside now, we could die like dogs! It’s dangerous! Anyway, we’re outwardly ordinary people, so who would say anything if we just stayed put? ]
‘I know, I know. But I don’t think we can just stay still.’
[ ……. ]
Thinking about being used as a meat shield on the front lines in my past life just made me want to curse.
I used to resent the people who enjoyed safety by sacrificing us.
Strangely… when I heard the screams of someone I didn’t even know outside, I couldn’t help but think I had to move.
If I had the ability to protect others and didn’t move, it felt like I would become a cowardly bastard no different from the guys who threw me into the front lines.
I didn’t want to remain a pathetic coward, so I suggested to the members that we go out.
“You’ve only received basic training in using your abilities from Jae-ha, but you’re still A-Class Espers.”
“……”
“You should be able to conquer A-Class Dungeons without much trouble. Moreover, with me, an SSS-Class Guide, the efficiency is beyond question.”
“You……”
“Besides, what was the reason Secrety became famous? It was because you conquered a Dungeon.”
“That was just by chance.”
“Anyway, you succeeded in the conquest. You accomplished a conquest that even a current A-Class Hunter couldn’t do.”
“……”
“Then it’s a fight worth trying.”
As long as the Dungeon that appeared near here isn’t S-Class or higher.
Hesitation flickered across the faces of the members who heard my words.
Hesitation not from fear, but from the possibility that it might be a winnable fight.
“What are you going to do?”
It wasn’t the members who answered my question, but someone else.
“No.”
“……!”
“Don’t go, Ga-hyeon. You can’t go.”
Jae-ha broke through the dormitory window and came in, grabbing my waist tightly.
As if he was anxious that I would fly away somewhere if he didn’t.
“Don’t go.”
Fear was in Jae-ha’s eyes.
Jae-ha was also seeing the same thing as me.
The fear that the tragedy he had seen countless times 20 years ago was repeating itself.
And… the fear of losing me in a Dungeon again.
Hyeon Jae-ha was bothered by the fact that X, Ban No-ah, had sent Ga-hyeon a provocative warning even while revealing his true identity.
“I need to take on the responsibility of guarding Ga-hyeon.”
He gave a reasonable basis that Ban No-ah would be after Ga-hyeon’s ability, ‘Resurrection.’
Even if that wasn’t the case, now that X had shed the life of Ban No-ah, who must have been in disguise, Hyeon Jae-ha didn’t want to leave An Ga-hyeon’s side.
‘I’m anxious.’
Ever since he regained Ga-hyeon, whom he had longed for so much, Hyeon Jae-ha’s nightmares had increased by one more.
Before, An Ga-hyeon’s death was re-enacted as it was in his dreams.
Now, he was haunted by dreams of An Ga-hyeon, who had become Yeon Yu-jin, dying.
A terrible nightmare where he had to watch the scene of his heart being pierced by Ban No-ah, his ability core being taken away, and being murdered.